With three nominations each, entertainers Quinta Brunson, RuPaul Charles, Trevor Noah, and Wanda Sykes lead with the most nominations Wednesday for Black nominees of the 75th annual Primetime Emmy Awards. They are among many Black nominees for the ceremony, which Fox will televise September 18 from the Peacock Theatre at L.A. Live in Los Angeles.
However, there were some noticeable snubs of Black people in certain categories. There were no Black people nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. In addition, all eight TV shows nominated for Outstanding Drama Series (which is often considered to be the top prize of the Primetime Emmy Awards) have showrunners who are white and a white-majority team of producers.
ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” star/showrunner Brunson is nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series (as an executive producer) and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, for her role as Janine Teagues, a teacher at an underfunded Philadelphia public elementary school. Brunson also got an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, for being a guest host on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”
Though Brunson won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2022, for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for the first season of “Abbott Elementary,” she was shut out of the category in 2023. All of the nominees for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series this year are white, with all being white men except for one white woman.
Also receiving Emmy nods are Brunson’s “Abbott Elementary” co-stars Tyler James Williams, Janelle James, and Sheryl Lee Ralph for their supporting roles in the series. “Abbott Elementary” has a total of eight Primetime Emmy nominations in 2023, which is the most Emmy nods for a TV show this year from a Black showrunner. “Abbott Elementary” is also nominated in categories for casting, hairstyling, and guest actress in a comedy series.
The HBO drama series “Succession” is the top nominee, with 27 nods.
MTV’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and spinoff shows continue to rack up Emmy nominations for host/executive producer Charles, who also uses the one-word stage name RuPaul. For “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Charles is nominated for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program and Outstanding Reality Competition Program, which are two categories where he has won several times. Charles is also nominated as executive producer for “RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked,” which is a contender for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program.
Charles issued this statement in reaction to his Emmy nominations this year: “In these dark political times, the Television Academy’s gracious recognition of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ is a bright light. Thank you for the love.”
Noah hosted Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah” from 2015 to 2022. For his last season with the show, where he was also an executive producer and a writer, he received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Talk Series and Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series. Noah also is nominated as an executive producer for the Netflix stand-up comedy special “Trevor Noah: I Wish You Would,” which has an Emmy nod for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded).
As an executive producer and a writer, Sykes also is Emmy-nominated for a Netflix stand-up comedy special. “Wanda Sykes: I’m an Entertainer” has Emmy nods for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) and Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special. Sykes also has an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for her role as Gladys in Comedy Central’s “Crank Yankers.”
Oprah Winfrey (host) and Michelle Obama (executive producer) are nominated for the Netflix interview special “The Light We Carry: Michelle Obama & Oprah Winfrey,” which has an Emmy nod for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special. Winfrey also got an Emmy nomination this year for being an executive producer of Hulu’s docuseries “The 1619 Project.”
In 2023, four out of the five nominees for Outstanding Narrator are Black: Barack Obama of Netflix’s docuseries “Working: What We Do All Day” (he won in this category in 2022); Mahershala Ali of Netflix’s docuseries “Chimp Empire,” Angela Bassett of Prime Video’s documentary “Good Night Oppy,” and Morgan Freeman of Netflix’s docuseries “Our Universe.
Other Black entertainers who received Primetime Emmy nominations this year include Ayo Edebiri (supporting actress in FX on Hulu’s comedy series “The Bear”); Dominique Fishback (lead actress in Prime Video’s limited drama series “Swarm”); Donald Glover and Janine Nabers (co-writers of “Swarm”); Niecy Nash-Betts (supporting actress in Netflix’s limited drama series “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”); and Jessica Williams (supporting actress in Apple TV+’s comedy series “Shrinking”). Black artists nominated for guest-starring roles in a TV series include Sam Richardson (Apple TV+’s comedy series “Ted Lasso”); Lamar Johnson (HBO’s drama series “The Last of Us”); and Taraji P. Henson (“Abbott Elementary”).
Reality TV nominees include Karamo Brown (co-host of Netflix’s “Queer Eye”) and Nicole Byer (co-host of Netflix’s “Nailed It!”). Acting in short form comedy or drama series resulted in Emmy nominations for “Die Hart 2: Die Harter” co-stars Kevin Hart and Nathalie Emmanuel, as well as Jasmine Guy for Prime Video’s “Chronicles of Jessica Wu.”
Rihanna is nominated for her performance on Fox’s “The Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show Starring Rihanna,” which is a contender for Outstanding Variety Special (Live). Emmy winner Lizzo is nominated as executive producer of two Max (formerly HBO Max) specials: “Love, Lizzo” and “Lizzo: Live in Concert.” Chris Rock received two Emmy nods for his Netflix stand-up comedy special “Selective Outrage”: Outstanding Variety Special (Live) and Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special. Steve Harvey of ABC’s “Family Feud” and Keke Palmer of NBC’s “Password” are each nominated for Outstanding Host for a Game Show.
The nominations were announced Wednesday by Yvette Nicole Brown and Frank Scherma, chair of the Television Academy. The Television Academy (which has more than 20,000 voting members) votes for the nominations and winners of the Primetime Emmy Awards.
A complete list of nominations can be found on the official Primetime Emmy Awards website.
